Currently the runway illumination on aircraft is usually performed with fixed lights used for different phases (taxiing, take off, landing . . . ), that are manually switched on/off by the pilot depending on the flight phase.
However, some prior art documents disclose dynamic lighting systems for aircraft.
US 2015146442 A1, referred to an “Optical lighting system for an aircraft,” discloses an optical lighting system for an aircraft that includes an optical unit that can be configured according to the phases of flight or taxiing of the aircraft in order to emit a beam of light, the spread and aim characteristics of which are dependent on the phases of flight or of taxiing.
EP 2995501 A1, referred to a “Dynamic aircraft headlight and method of operating a dynamic aircraft headlight,” discloses a dynamic aircraft headlight that includes a LED group, having a plurality of LEDs, and an optical system, comprising at least one optical element, the optical system being associated with the LED group for shaping an output light intensity distribution from the light emitted by the LED group, wherein the LED group and the optical system are stationary within the dynamic aircraft light unit, with each LED of the LED group having a set position with respect to the optical system and with a light output of each LED being affected differently by the optical system. Each LED of the LED group is individually controllable, and the dynamic aircraft headlight is configured to be operated in a plurality of operating modes, with a respective selected subset of the plurality of LEDs being switched on in each of the plurality of operating modes, and with a different output light intensity distribution being emitted by the dynamic aircraft headlight in each of the plurality of operating modes.
EP 2176127, referred to an “Aircraft light unit,” relates, in particular, to aircraft light units used when landing and taxiing an aircraft. This document provides an aircraft light unit comprising a first light source with a principal beam axis in a first direction and a second light source with a principal beam axis in a second direction, the second direction being different from the first direction. The first and second light sources are arranged such that they can combine to create a net light beam in a plurality of different directions by variation of the power supplied to the light sources.
In automotive technology, dynamic roadway illumination has been recently implemented depending on steering wheel position, car speed and even external cameras that help the driver to improve his perception of the roadway at night.
Different technical solutions from the automotive industry, as well as other possible inventions for performing dynamic illumination of the runway for the aircraft, could be possible (for example, LED matrix, movable and directional lamps, etc.).
However, the control of the devices corresponding to those solutions would require communication between the different light elements and the aircraft navigation and flight computers. This could be expensive and hard to implement in an already existing aircraft (it involves wiring, communication protocols, etc.).